I'm interrupting this dormant dog-blog to write about my entry into the world of children's literature - there will still be the occasional mention of my erstwhile doggie companion who is still a pup in spirit, if not in size.

4 Feb 2012

Something on the nose...

Went to the dog beach this morning with the whole family, plus Frankie and his mum. Pip was ecstatic to be reunited with his best friend.

Pip with his best friend Frankie

Now Frankie’s mum, who would henceforth like to be known as Mrs Sinatra (MS), has a strange habit. And, it must be said, a kind of embarrassing habit. Just like our canine friends, she likes to collect dead animals.

On the beach this morning was a dead albatross. I didn’t actually see the specimen, being preoccupied with doggie matters, but apparently it was quite spectacular. Anyway, MS had decided she wanted it! We were halfway back to our starting point when she asked if we’d mind looking after the dogs while she went and collected the albatross to take back to her car. Personally, and as much as I love MS dearly, I think this is incredibly weird!

A couple of beach rangery patrol kind of guys had pulled up in a car and I said to her ‘Why don’t you get those guys to do it?’ So a conversation ensued and MS came away with three heavy duty garbage bags. ‘Wouldn’t they do it?’ I asked Him-In-Doors. ‘No,’ said he, ‘MS wants to keep it’.

MS is – like many of us – an unappreciated artiste. She likes to collect dead animals and draw them. She explained that it’s great because they don’t tend to move, being dead and all.

Later, she told me that a friend of hers once found a dead kangaroo with a perfectly preserved - yet dead - baby in its pouch. Since neither the friend nor MS drove, the friend carefully parcelled up the dead joey and sent it off via Australia Post. MS was living in a country town at the time and the parcel arrived unharmed at the General Store/Post Office. Now that’s a true friend!

So back to the beach, MS had headed off and successfully bagged the albatross. Meanwhile, Frankie purged his breakfast, throwing up two perfect chicken necks on the sand. Perhaps I’m a bad Mum but as they looked fine to me I called Pip over to see if he’d like to polish off Frankie’s rejected breckie. The kids were horrified and Pip sided with them, rejecting the necks which I ended up picking up in a poo bag.

Enough about MS and Frankie, this was a big day for Pip – who is rapidly becoming known as The Pipstar! With encouragement from the kids and Him-In-Doors, Pip finally discovered the joy of the sea.

D2 introduces Pip to the joy of the sea

He’s still a bit scared of the waves but he actually ran into the water and seemed to be enjoying himself. Everyone’s very pleased with this progress and it will make going to the beach on hot days a lot more bearable.